The Savvy Seller with Kristen Doyle

146. The Version 1.0 Mindset to Beat Perfection Paralysis

• Kristen Doyle, TPT seller, SEO coach, and web designer

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Ever feel like perfectionism is paralyzing your progress? We've all been there, and in this episode, I’m sharing how overcoming perfectionism is the key to finally hitting publish. We’ll dig into the sneaky mindset traps that disguise themselves as productivity but are really just fear in disguise—fear of judgment, failure, and even success.

I’ll introduce you to The Version 1.0 Mindset, a powerful shift that helps you release your first version without obsessing over every tiny detail. If you’re stuck in a loop of overthinking and constant tweaking, this conversation will give you the clarity (and permission!) to move forward and share your brilliance with the world.

01:59 - Two major reasons why you’re not hitting publish on your new product

08:12 - Your secret to overcoming perfectionism: The Version 1.0 Mindset

10:45 - Setting minimum requirements for deciding a product is ready to publish

13:08 - Why embracing The Version 1.0 Mindset is a good business decision

14:19 - Practical steps that will push you towards overcoming perfectionism and get more digital products out into the world

Links & Resources:

Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode146 

Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business. 

 

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Kristen Doyle:

Hey there. If you are a digital product creator of any kind, whether you sell downloadable PDFs, PowerPoints, templates, planners, courses or anything else, I would be willing to bet that you have some amazing, nearly finished products sitting in folders on your computer that never quite made it to the finish line. Sound familiar? If it does know that you're not alone. I will be the first to admit that I probably still have a dozen of half done resources in my own files that never saw the light of day. But here's the truth, those unfinished products cannot help anyone. They cannot generate income, and they are keeping your genius hidden from the people out there who need it the most. So today, we are talking about how to move from perfection paralysis to publishing your product so that you can finally get those creations out into the world where they belong, so that they can start helping your target audience and making you money in the process. Are you a digital product or course creator, selling on platforms like teachers pay teachers, Etsy or your own website? Ready to grow your business, but not into the kind of constant hustle that leads straight to burnout? Then you're in the right place. Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'm Kristen Doyle, and I'm here to give you no fluff, tools and strategies that move the needle for your business without burning you out in the process. Things like SEO, no stress marketing, email list building, automation, and so much more. Let's get started y'all. So what's really going on when we cannot seem to hit that publish button? In a dozen years or more of creating digital products and working with other entrepreneurs, what I have found is that there are two major reasons that keep showing up over and over again. They're the reasons that I hesitate to publish, and they're the reasons that you probably do too. And interestingly enough, they seem like opposite problems on the surface, but they are almost always rooted in the exact same underlying fears. So let's talk about them. The first reason that you're not publishing is shiny object syndrome. It's that constant pull that we feel toward new, exciting ideas before we finish the one we're currently working on. I know I struggle with this sometimes. I get part way into a product and I start to lose steam, and it's not exciting and fun anymore, and starting that new product gives me a dopamine hit that completing the existing one just doesn't. And I would be willing to bet that that happens sometimes for you too. See, sometimes it can feel a whole lot safer to stay in that constant creation phase than to face the potential of criticism of your product or that product not selling well. But the truth is, all those incomplete products that you're building up while you work on the new, exciting, fun product, those are all draining your mental energy, even when you're not actually working on them. Like I said, it happens to me all the time. I am forever getting distracted by a new idea before I finish an existing product. And one thing that I have learned to do, and this is really just a discipline that you have to have, is when I get excited about a new idea, I use that as the motivation to finish the thing I'm working on. Yes, this new idea is fun and exciting and I want to explore it. I can do that as soon as I finish the existing thing I am working on right now. In fact, I have an entire list in my notion dashboard of ideas that I want to tackle that I can't touch until I finish something I'm currently working on right now because I have gotten past the fun, exciting part of creation, and I'm in the hard work part. And for me, that hard work part is not fun and it's not exciting, and I don't want to do that part, so it is really easy for me to get distracted by the shiny object instead of finishing. Now, the second problem that stops a lot of us from publishing is perfectionism. It is that endless tweaking and adjusting and adding one more thing because our product just never feels quite done enough. And a lot of the time that perfectionism is masking a fear of judgment or of criticism or failure. See, we have this false belief that if we make our product perfect enough, we won't get that negative feedback. People won't give us bad reviews because we've made it perfect enough, and if we just keep tweaking and adding things and making it better and better and better, we will eventually get to the point that our product is perfect for everyone, and that's just not true. Whatever product we're creating, no matter what it is, no matter who our audience is, it is not going to be perfect for everyone, and we often set much higher standards for ourselves than our customers actually even expect. We keep moving the finish line, adding one more thing before we say it's ready to launch, or going back over and revising it one more time, proofreading the 43rd time before we're ready to launch it. And a lot of times, what we end up doing is staying stuck in this cycle of perfectionism where we never actually launch the product. A lot of times, when it comes to perfectionism, we sort of use that as an excuse to never publish, because we're hiding behind this idea that perfectionism is good. We're just trying to make it perfect so that we're putting the best product possible out there for our buyers. But if we keep going back over and over and over, and we never, ever get the product done, we can't help our buyers at all, and that's even worse than helping them with a product that's just a little less than perfect. Like I said, both of these problems, the shiny object syndrome, and the perfectionism, have a common root. They both quite frequently stem from fear. We are afraid that people will criticize our work, that people won't like it, that people will judge us for it, or even just afraid that we might not make as much money off of it as we thought we should. So we're a little afraid of failure. See both the shiny object syndrome, jumping to something new instead of finishing what you're working on and continually editing and revising and trying to make your product perfect, give us a really convenient excuse to avoid the vulnerability that comes with putting your work out there for the world. See, when we put our work out there for the world, there is the potential of that rejection and that criticism and that can feel paralyzing sometimes. But getting stuck in a cycle of perfectionism or moving on to the next shiny object without publishing the thing that you've been working on at the end of the day, those are going to just prevent the solution you've created from reaching the people who are out there having that problem, looking for your solution. They can protect us from potential failure, but at the end of the day, they hurt our ideal customers. And if you really think about it, the most ironic thing of all is that in trying to protect ourselves from that criticism and that possibility of failure, what we are really doing is actually increasing the likelihood of failure because we never complete the product. See, you can't sell any of a product that is sitting on your desktop in a folder. No one is going to give you a good review on a product that you never hit publish on you are not going to help anyone overcome the problem with the solution you've created if you never put it out there. See, once I recognize that perfectionism and shiny object syndrome were really both different ways of just avoiding the vulnerability and the work that comes with publishing, I shifted my mindset in a way that has really transformed how I approach almost everything in my business, to be honest. I am calling it the version 1.0 mindset when it comes to products, and it has really been a game changer for me and for other people that I've worked with. So the version 1.0 mindset really is a way to redefine the word "done". I'm gonna say something that you might not love, but it's true, and if you look back over your own business, you'll notice that you've seen it in action in everything you've created. See the truth is, everything that you create and publish is always version 1.0. There's no final version that you'll never have to go back and edit again. Technology changes. Things that we are doing with the type of product you create, change. The world changes. You get new and better ideas. You notice an error that needs to be fixed. See, there is no such thing as that final, perfect version that will never change again. If it does, if you create a final version that you never change again, chances are your product will eventually dwindle in sales and eventually stop selling altogether, because it's no longer relevant. See, we always have to revise our products and update them and keep them fresh and new. And when you shift your mindset away from I need to get this perfect before I can publish it and onto I'm going to publish version 1.0, and then make revisions, that immediately takes off the pressure to get it perfect. See, there is a big difference between a product that is good enough to help someone and that product that is perfect. And as long as your product is good enough to help someone, then it is worthy of being published and being put out there for the world. You can think of your version 1.0 of your product as being that one that solves the main problem, not the version that has every possible feature that you could add. One thing that helps with that is setting some clear minimum requirements for you that define when something is ready to publish. Now, one thing that I would always say is a non negotiable for that minimum viable product is to have it proofread. We don't want to put things out there that have lots of typos and editing mistakes, but we can put something out there that's not quite as complete as we want it to be, because it is still complete enough to help people. In fact, there are some maybe hidden benefits of publishing the product before you think it's completely finished and perfect. See, you might have loads of ideas that would take you down a road of creating things that your actual customers don't even want or need, and when you can get real customer feedback that is worth so much more than just your ideas and that endless pre launch of your product, tweaking and adding and revising. The best real solutions come from those people who are actually using your product, not from theories and ideas that you might have in your head. This is true of digital download products, but it is especially true of things like courses or templates. So you'll start getting questions from people who have purchased and every one of those questions can help you to know how to make your product better. In fact, I just did a podcast episode a few weeks ago on how customer feedback can really help improve your products. And one thing that you can do with this version 1.0 is take that customer feedback to create version 1.1 and version 1.2 and so on. See, when you almost co create your product with your audience, every version is so much better than the last, and it's targeted directly to what the people who purchased it actually want and need, and that's going to help you reach more of those same types of people, not to mention when a customer has asked you a question and you put out there that you've updated the product they bought and added something to answer their question, to help them solve that problem that they had, they are going to appreciate that so very much, and that really can help you create those customers who keep coming back over and over and over. So we've talked about redefining done. We've talked about some ways it's good for you to publish that imperfect product, some ways that there are actually some hidden benefits, but there are actually also some business reasons that that version 1.0 mindset is actually better. See, the faster you can get your product on the market, the sooner you can start generating revenue. If your product sits in a file folder somewhere, and never goes out into your website store or into that sales funnel or a marketplace shop, then you'll never make any income off of it. The more of these products that you put out, the more momentum and the more confidence you build around the fact that it is okay to put products out that are a little less than perfect. The more products you have, the more credibility you build, even while you're improving those products, so there's almost this compound effect of having multiple good enough products versus that one perfect product that you can put out there. And once you embrace that version 1.0 mindset, publishing the product gets a whole lot less scary and more exciting. But I do know from personal experience that actually implementing this mindset can feel pretty challenging at first. It's a big shift to put something out there that you maybe are thinking isn't the best reflection of you. So let's talk about some practical ways to push through those final steps to get your product published. The first one is really setting very clear done criteria. Now this is where you make sure that what you're putting out as a version 1.0 while it might not be as comprehensive as it could be, it might not be as perfect as it could be, that it is still a good quality product. It is still providing value for your customers, and it is still presenting you in the positive and professional light that you want to be presented. This comes down to distinguishing between the must haves and the nice to haves. What are your must haves? You have to proofread your product. Absolutely have to. You can't put out their products with loads of typos and expect people to think that you're professional. So you have to proofread your product. You have to create a solution that solves the problem your ideal customer is coming to. But what are those nice to haves? Well, that's all the extra ideas that you have as you're working on your product, and I know you've experienced it just like I have, that idea you had that you thought was going to be a 20 page PDF download has suddenly ballooned itself into an entire zip folder full of PDFs and some videos to go along with it, and maybe there's going to be a private podcast feed too. All of those extra features probably are great and add to the value of the original product. But if getting them done is keeping you from publishing, then those are the nice to haves. Get your original version out there with the must haves set some firm boundaries around the idea of just adding one more thing. Set up time where you're going to cut that off and then ask a friend, someone that you trust, someone else who is an entrepreneur like you, to look at your product and make sure that they think it is good enough. When you know you've crossed that good enough to help somebody and good enough to not make me look bad threshold, that's the time to go ahead and start publishing your product, so that you can then come back in and make those revisions to make it better and better over time. Now, when it comes to getting going with this, you need to build some publishing momentum. So I would recommend you start with whatever the easiest unfinished product is in your inventory; that thing that is so close to done. In fact, I know in my own business, there have been times where I looked at my folder of unfinished products and I realized the only thing I was missing was the packaging. The whole product was done. Maybe I haven't proofread it yet, so I need to send it off to my proofreader, and I need to create the packaging. I need to make cover images, I need to write some emails, I need to write a product description and come up with a price. Those things don't take very long, but they are so easy for us to put off. So start with those easiest unfinished products. Break those last tasks that you have out into some manageable chunks and put some time on your calendar. Block it out, dedicated time, an hour or two, whatever you think it should take to finish this product, block that time out to get this product done. When you do that, when you've set that publish date, and you've blocked out your time to finish the product, tell someone about it. This creates a little accountability, and it helps you to cross that finish line. In fact, one of the best ways to tell someone about it is not just to tell a friend who you know is going to say, Oh, don't worry. It's okay if you don't meet that deadline. One of the best ways to tell someone about it is to send an email out to your list that says, next Thursday, I'm publishing a brand new product on this because that way you have a whole list of people who are waiting for that product. It might even help you generate some early sales. Once you've published that product, come up with a little celebration that you can have to make hitting that publish button feel rewarding. This doesn't have to be anything huge, but focusing on the work and the courage and the vulnerability it takes to hit that publish button, and not focusing on the potential sales and whether or not you met some goals can really help you to build momentum and to learn to enjoy the publishing process, to learn to celebrate getting that published product out there, completed, shared with the world. When you do this, it can be as simple as going out for a cup of coffee or some ice cream at your favorite local coffee shop or having a special dinner that night. If it's a bigger product, maybe you treat yourself to a mani pedi, or whatever else it takes for you to feel like you have celebrated the work that you just did. When you do, share your launch publicly and tell people how you're celebrating. Take that little picture of your coffee at the coffee shop and say, celebrating my new product launch with a cup of whatever your favorite coffee is. When you do this kind of reframing your mind that launch day as the version 1.0 day. It's the start of something new, not the end of the old product process. It's the start of this new product getting better and better and better over time. When you shift your mindset to this version 1.0 you need to start planning for version 1.1 right from the beginning. So come up with a space that you can collect those ideas for improving it. Maybe this is something like a Notion dashboard where you keep all of your product improvement ideas and come back in tiny days, or maybe before the next launch. If this is a product that you're live launching over time, come back and make those first sets of updates to make it better. See that version 1.0 mindset isn't just about getting products finished. It really is about changing your relationship with your creative work. When you embrace the idea that everything that you're putting out there is a work in progress, you are freeing yourself to share your ideas, your creations, your products with the world, without that paralysis we often fall into when we're trying to make everything perfect. Let's talk about action steps. I want to challenge you to choose one unfinished product this week, because I know you have one, and set a firm publish date. Tell someone else about it to create accountability, and put some time in your calendar to work on those last steps before you can hit that publish button. As you're going through it, create that version 1.0 checklist, those things that you have to get done in order for your product to provide value, to make a difference for your buyers and to look professional. And then all those other ideas that you have rolling around in your brain can come in version 1.1 or version two or version 7.3. Schedule yourself a little celebration for after you've hit publish, so that the very act of completing this product is now rewarding for you, not just the sales that are going to come later. All right, this week, like I said, I am challenging you to pick that one product and commit to releasing it into the world. When you do publish it, send me a DM on Instagram@kristendoyle.co so I can celebrate with you, but also so I can share your product or your offer with my audience. If you need a sign to quit stalling and share that product with the people who need it, this is it. Remember, the goal is not to create perfect products that we never edit again. It's to help people solve the real problems that they're facing, and you cannot do that with products that never see the light of day. Somebody out there is waiting for exactly what you have created, and even your version 1.0 will give them the help or the boost that they need right now. So get out there and publish the product already. I'll talk to you soon!